Photo:at the sign of the N,
originally uploaded by ronk53
Last week, the New Jersey Supreme Court decided in favor of the Jackson Tree Ordinance, overturning an Appellate Court decision made earlier this year.
One critical point of argument was that development must consider effects on the larger ecosystem, not only the individual lot. Builders had argued that planting trees offsite would not be a valuable replacement.
The ordinance requires developers to replace trees disturbed by construction, or pay into a fund to do so. The decision increases the ability of towns to protect the environment and do proper planning in their communities.
More than 200 municipalities in the state already have similar ordinances that are now protected by this ruling.
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